Biglerville blows past Littlestown in push to qualify for districts
Hunter Kime swung as fast as he could, lofting the ball high into the windy air with a loud ping.
"Get out," his teammates from the dugout shouted as Littlestown outfielders drifted further and further back, their heads extended back as the ball kept carrying.
When it landed beyond the orange fence, a Biglerville fan watching the game from his car honked his horn repeatedly as Kime rounded the bases.
Kime's three-run home run knocked in the fourth, fifth and sixth runs of a seven-run third inning and seemingly put Wednesday's game out of Littlestown's reach. Three innings later, Kime lofted another high fly ball to deep center field that officially ended the game, as Biglerville went up 11-1 for a 10-run-rule victory.
"I had a rough start to the season, but I've been working on cutting down my swing and making contact," Kime said. "With the wind today, it just got up and went out."
It's the second win this week for Biglerville, a YAIAA Division IV school, against a top team in the Division III. The Canners also beat Eastern York, 3-1, on Monday.
Those wins are coming at the right time, as the season winds to a close and teams try to earn a spot in the district playoffs. Biglerville, now 6-8, was ranked No. 13 in the preliminary District 3 Class AA rankings released Tuesday. The top 10 teams will qualify for the district playoffs.
"Our record is not as good as what I think we're capable of doing," Biglerville coach Jeff Taylor said. "Now I think we're putting things together. We had hitting today, our pitchers aren't walking nearly as many as they used to earlier in the season. Everything's kind of coming together here as we come down the home stretch."
Kime wasn't the only Canner with a big game, as four other players also registered extra-base hits. Logan Reever hit a double and a triple as Biglerville batted around in the third inning, and Noah Ayers and Jordan Trostel also hit doubles in that inning off Littlestown starter Russell Livesay.
"I think the biggest thing for that inning is that (Livesay) was kind of wild with his curveball, so we just capitalized whenever he threw the fastball over the plate," Reever said.
Tyler Redding hit an RBI-double as part of the sixth-inning rally that ended with Kime's game-winning double. Ayers pitched all six innings for the Canners, striking out nine batters.
"Right now, our goal is to get back to .500," Reever said. "We know that no one else is really running away with it in our district, we know that we might have a chance to go to districts too, but right now its just to get back to .500 and go from there."
Littlestown, meanwhile, is moving in the opposite direction. The Bolts, which started 8-0, are now on a four-game losing streak that leaves them fighting for a spot in the Class AAA district playoffs.
They were ranked No. 13 in Tuesday's preliminary rankings, but have now lost twice since those were released.
"Offensively, our approaches just aren't where they need to be," Littlestown coach Todd Gantz said. "It's one of those things where it's baseball, you go through things like that. What's not normal — normally it's one or two guys that start to slip — top to bottom, we're struggling.
"As far as I predict right now, we're out. I told the guys that I think if we win out we're still in. We can probably get away with one loss and be in."
Biglerville 11, Littlestown 1
Littlestown010000—132 Biglerville107
L, Russell Livesay, Zach Brown (4) and Travis Henrie. B, Noah Ayers and Re.
SO-BB — Livesay 4-4, Brown 2-4, Ayers 9-3; W — Ayers; L — Livesay; 2B — L, Lane Nye, B, Logan Reever, Hunter Kime, Noah Ayers, Jordan Trostel, Tyler Redding; 3B — L, Zach Brown, Reever; HR — L, Kim.